2019–20 CAF Champions League
The 2019–20 CAF Champions League (officially the 2019–20 Total CAF Champions League for sponsorship reasons)[1] is the 56th edition of Africa's premier club football tournament organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF), and the 24th edition under the current CAF Champions League title.
| 2019–20 Total CAF Champions League | |
|---|---|
| Tournament details | |
| Dates | Qualifying: 9 August – 29 September 2019 Competition proper: 29 November 2019 – 16 or 17 October 2020 |
| Teams | Competition proper: 16 Total: 61 (from 49 associations) |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 56 |
| Goals scored | 117 (2.09 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) |  (7 goals) |
This season was to be the first to follow an August–to-May schedule, as per the decision of the CAF Executive Committee on 20 July 2017.[2] However, the Covid-19 pandemic caused the latter stages of the competition to be postponed until late 2020. Moreover, for the first time, the final will be played as a single match at a venue pre-selected by CAF,[3] and will be played at the Japoma Stadium in Douala, Cameroon.[4]
The winners of the 2019–20 CAF Champions League will qualify for the 2020 FIFA Club World Cup in Qatar, and earn the right to play against the winners of the 2019–20 CAF Confederation Cup in the 2020 CAF Super Cup in August.[5]
Espérance de Tunis, who had won the last two titles, were eliminated by Zamalek in the quarter-finals.[6]
Association team allocation
All 56 CAF member associations may enter the CAF Champions League, with the 12 highest ranked associations according to their CAF 5-Year Ranking eligible to enter two teams in the competition.[5] As a result, theoretically a maximum of 68 teams could enter the tournament – although this level has never been reached.
For the 2019–20 CAF Champions League, the CAF uses the 2015–2019 CAF 5-Year Ranking, which calculates points for each entrant association based on their clubs’ performance over those 5 years in the CAF Champions League and CAF Confederation Cup. The criteria for points are the following:[7][8][9]
| CAF Champions League | CAF Confederation Cup | |
|---|---|---|
| Winners | 6 points | 5 points |
| Runners-up | 5 points | 4 points |
| Losing semi-finalists | 4 points | 3 points |
| Losing quarter-finalists (from 2017) | 3 points | 2 points |
| 3rd place in groups | 2 points | 1 point |
| 4th place in groups | 1 point | 0.5 point |
The points are multiplied by a coefficient according to the year as follows:
- 2018–19 – 5
- 2018 – 4
- 2017 – 3
- 2016 – 2
- 2015 – 1
This was announced by the CAF on 4 June 2019, as using the previous scheme, it would be based on results from 2014 to 2018. The only change for the top 12 associations is that Tanzania is included while Ivory Coast is excluded.[10][11]
Teams
The following 61 teams from 49 associations entered the competition.
- Three teams (in bold) received a bye to the first round.
- The other 58 teams entered the preliminary round.
Associations are shown according to their 2015–2019 CAF 5-Year Ranking – those with a ranking score have their rank and score indicated.
- Notes
- ^ Libya (LBY): For the second consecutive season, Libya were represented by Al-Nasr, the 2017–18 Libyan Premier League champions, as the 2018–19 Libyan Premier League was suspended and the Libyan Cup was not played in 2018–19.
- ^ Mali (MLI): For the second consecutive season, Mali were represented by Stade Malien, the 2018 Malian Cup winners, as the Malian Première Division and Malian Cup were not played in 2018–19.
- Associations which did not enter a team
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Casablanca teams
Gauteng teams
Luanda teams
Dar es Salaam teams
Omdurman teams
Schedule
The schedule of the competition is as follows.[12]
On 24 November 2019, CAF made a change to all fixtures dates starting from the group stage matchday 4 to the final, due to rescheduling of the 2020 African Nations Championship from January/February to April. The quarter-finals draw date was also changed.[13]
The semi-finals and final had been postponed until further notice due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
On 5 August 2020, CAF has proposed October 16 or 17 as a date for the 2019/20 CAF Champions League final and also abandoned plans for single-legged semi-finals.[14]
| Phase | Round | Draw date | First leg | Second leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Qualifying | Preliminary round | 21 July 2019 | 9–11 August 2019 | 23–25 August 2019 |
| First round | 13–15 September 2019 | 27–29 September 2019 | ||
| Group stage | Matchday 1 | 9 October 2019 | 29–30 November 2019 | |
| Matchday 2 | 6–7 December 2019 | |||
| Matchday 3 | 27–28 December 2019 | |||
| Matchday 4 | 10–11 January 2020 | |||
| Matchday 5 | 24–25 January 2020 | |||
| Matchday 6 | 31 January – 1 February 2020 | |||
| Knockout stage | Quarter-finals | 5 February 2020 | 28–29 February 2020 | 6–7 March 2020 |
| Semi-finals | 25–26 September 2020 | 2–3 October 2020 | ||
| Final | 16 or 17 October 2020 | |||
Qualifying rounds
The draw for the qualifying rounds was held on 21 July 2019 at the CAF headquarters in Cairo, Egypt.[15][16] In the qualifying rounds, each tie was played on a home-and-away two-legged basis. If the aggregate score was tied after the second leg, the away goals rule was applied, and if still tied, extra time was not played, and the penalty shoot-out was used to determine the winner (Regulations III. 13 & 14).[5]
Preliminary round
First round
The 16 winners of the first round advanced to the group stage, while the 16 losers of the first round entered the Confederation Cup play-off round.
| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Al-Nasr  |
2–4 |  |
1–3 | 1–1 |
JS Kabylie  |
2–2 (5–3 p) |  |
2–0 | 0–2 |
ASC Kara  |
0–1 | |
0–0 | 0–1 |
Enyimba  |
0–1 |  |
0–0 | 0–1 |
| USM Alger |
6–1 |  |
4–1 | 2–0 |
Cano Sport  |
0–6 |  |
0–2 | 0–4 |
Génération Foot  |
2–2 (a) | |
2–1 | 0–1 |
Asante Kotoko  |
2–3 |  |
2–0 | 0–3 |
Petro de Luanda  |
1–1 (a) |  |
0–0 | 1–1 |
Côte d'Or  |
1–16 |  |
0–5 | 1–11 |
FC Nouadhibou  |
1–6 | |
0–2 | 1–4 |
Elect-Sport  |
2–3 | |
1–1 | 1–2 |
Young Africans  |
2–3 |  |
1–1 | 1–2 |
FC Platinum  |
5–2 |  |
1–0 | 4–2 |
| Green Eagles |
2–2 (a) | |
1–2 | 1–0 |
Fosa Juniors  |
1–3 | |
0–0 | 1–3 |
Group stage
The draw for the group stage was held on 9 October 2019, 20:00 CAT (UTC+2), at the Hilton Pyramids Golf in Cairo, Egypt.[17] The 16 teams, all winners of the first round of qualifying, were drawn into four groups of four.
The teams were seeded by their performances in the CAF competitions for the previous five seasons (CAF 5-Year Ranking points shown in parentheses). Each group contained one team from each of Pot 1, Pot 2, Pot 3, and Pot 4, and each team was drawn into one of the positions in their group.[18]
| Pot | Pot 1 | Pot 2 | Pot 3 | Pot 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Teams |
|
|
|
|
In each group, teams play against each other home-and-away in a round-robin format. The group winners and runners-up advance to the quarter-finals of the knockout stage.
| Tiebreakers |
|---|
|
Teams are ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss). If tied on points, tiebreakers are applied in the following order (Regulations III. 20 & 21):[5]
|
Group A
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | TPM | ZAM | AGO | ZES | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | |
6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 11 | 4 | +7 | 14 | Knockout stage | — | 3–0 | 2–1 | 3–1 | |
| 2 | |
6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 4 | +1 | 9 | 0–0 | — | 2–0 | 2–0 | ||
| 3 | |
6 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 7 | −3 | 4 | 1–1 | 0–0 | — | 1–1 | ||
| 4 | |
6 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 10 | −5 | 3 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | — |
Group B
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | ESS | AHL | HIL | PLA | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | |
6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 3 | +5 | 12 | Knockout stage | — | 1–0 | 0–1 | 2–0 | |
| 2 | |
6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 4 | +3 | 11 | 1–0 | — | 2–1 | 2–0 | ||
| 3 | |
6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 6 | +1 | 10 | 1–2 | 1–1 | — | 2–1 | ||
| 4 | |
6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 11 | −9 | 1 | 0–3 | 1–1 | 0–1 | — |
Group C
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | MSD | WAC | PET | USM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | |
6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 3 | +6 | 14 | Knockout stage | — | 1–0 | 3–0 | 2–1 | |
| 2 | |
6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 10 | 6 | +4 | 9 | 0–0 | — | 4–1 | 3–1 | ||
| 3 | |
6 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 8 | 14 | −6 | 4 | 2–2 | 2–2 | — | 1–1 | ||
| 4 | |
6 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 10 | −4 | 3 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 2–2 | — |
Group D
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | EST | RCA | JSK | VIT | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | |
6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 3 | +4 | 11[lower-alpha 1] | Knockout stage | — | 2–2 | 1–0 | 0–0 | |
| 2 | |
6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 4 | +2 | 11[lower-alpha 1] | 0–2 | — | 2–0 | 1–0 | ||
| 3 | |
6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 7 | −4 | 7 | 1–0 | 0–0 | — | 1–0 | ||
| 4 | |
6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 6 | −2 | 4 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 4–1 | — |
Notes:
- Head-to-head points: Espérance de Tunis 4, Raja Casablanca 1.
Knockout stage
In the knockout stage, teams play against each other over two legs on a home-and-away basis, except for the one-match final. The mechanism of the draws for each round is as follows:
- In the draw for the quarter-finals, the four group winners are seeded, and the four group runners-up are unseeded. The seeded teams are drawn against the unseeded teams, with the seeded teams hosting the second leg. Teams from the same group cannot be drawn against each other, while teams from the same association can be drawn against each other.
- In the draws for semi-finals, there are no seedings, and teams from the same group or the same association can be drawn against each other. As the draws for the quarter-finals and semi-finals are held together before the quarter-finals are played, the identity of the quarter-final winners is not known at the time of the semi-final draw.
Bracket
The bracket was decided after the draw for the knockout stage (quarter-finals and semi-finals), which was held on 5 February 2020, 20:00 CAT (UTC+2), at the Hilton Pyramids Golf in Cairo, Egypt.[19][20]
| Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Final | ||||||||||||||
| 2 | 0 | 2 | |||||||||||||
| 0 | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| 3 | 0 | 3 | |||||||||||||
| 1 | 1 | 2 | |||||||||||||
 | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| 2 | 0 | 2 | |||||||||||||
| 0 | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| 2 | 1 | 3 | |||||||||||||
| 0 | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||||
Quarter-finals
| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Al-Ahly |
3–1 | |
2–0 | 1–1 |
| Raja Casablanca |
2–1 | |
2–0 | 0–1 |
| Zamalek |
3–2 | |
3–1 | 0–1 |
| Wydad Casablanca |
2–1 | |
2–0 | 0–1 |
Semi-finals
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all semi-final matches, originally scheduled for 1–2 and 8–9 May 2020, had been postponed until further notice.[21]
On 30 June 2020, CAF announced that the competition would resume in September 2020 with a Final Four (4) format with the semi-finals played in a single match. The hosts of the Final Four shall be announced later.[22]
| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Al-Ahly |
|
25 Sep | 2 Oct | |
| Zamalek |
|
26 Sep | 3 Oct |
Final
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the final, originally scheduled for 29 May 2020, 19:00 GMT, at the Japoma Stadium, Douala, Cameroon,[4] had been postponed until further notice.[23]
| SF1 winner | v | |
|---|---|---|
Top goalscorers
- As of 7 March 2020
| Rank | Player | Team | MD1 | MD2 | MD3 | MD4 | MD5 | MD6 | QF1 | QF2 | SF1 | SF2 | F | Total[24] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | |
|
2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 7 | |||||||
| 2 | |
|
2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | ||||||||
|
|
2 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||||
| 4 | |
|
1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | ||||||||
|
|
2 | 1 | |||||||||||
|
|
3 | ||||||||||||
|
|
1 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||||
|
|
1 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||||
 |
|
1 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||||
References
- "Total, Title Sponsor of the Africa Cup of Nations and Partner of African Football". CAF. 21 July 2016.
- "DECISIONS OF CAF EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE – 20 JULY 2017". CAF. 20 July 2017.
- "Three bids submitted for the 2019/20 Interclub finals". CAF. 6 March 2020.
- "Douala, Rabat named host cities for Interclubs 2019/20 final". CAF. 16 March 2020.
- "CAF Champions League regulations" (PDF). CAF.
- "Zamalek book spot in CAF CL semi-finals despite losing to Espérance de Tunis". KingFut. 6 March 2020. Retrieved 7 March 2020.
- "16 Clubs for Group Phase of CC and CL effective 2017". CAF. 11 May 2016.
- "New adopted format for Club Competitions". CAF. 30 May 2016.
- "CAF disowns club ranking published by some websites". Cafonline.com. 9 June 2011. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
- "Timu 4 za Tanzania kushiriki Mashindano ya CAF 2019/2020". tff.or.tz. 4 June 2019.
- "Sport: Pour la saison 2019-2020, le FC San Pedro ne jouera plus la ligue des champions Africaines (Caf), voici les raisons". akody.com. 5 June 2019.
- "Interclubs competition calendar; seasons 2018/19, 2019/20 & 2020/21" (PDF). CAF.
- @CAF_Online (24 November 2019). "Schedule Changes" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- "Caf reverts to two-legged Champions League semi-finals | Goal.com". www.goal.com. Retrieved 2020-08-05.
- "Fixtures for 2019/20 Interclubs preliminary rounds released". CAF. 22 July 2019.
- "CAF Champions League 2019/2020 Preliminary Rounds" (PDF). CAF.
- "Group stage competitors for Total CAF Champions League are revealed". CAF. 9 October 2019.
- "Draw Procedure of the CL 2019_20 GM" (PDF). CAF.
- "Accreditation for Interclubs knockout stages". CAF. 30 January 2020.
- "Last eight draw reveal interesting pairings". CAF. 5 February 2020.
- "Postponement of Interclubs semis & Women's qualifiers". CAF. 11 April 2020.
- "CAF Champions League, Confederation Cup to resume in September with Final Four format". CAFonline. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
- "CAF Interclubs finals postponed". CAF. 18 April 2020.
- "CAF Champions League - Top scorers". Soccerway. Retrieved 2 February 2020.
External links
- Total CAF Champions League, CAFonline.com